Upgraded

You are looking an the only NORBA Expert woman on Team El Toreo. Congrats Pookie!

Mill Mountain and my little friend

Did a mountain bike ride with Pookie and Ron up on Mill Mountain today. Boy those rodents up there are friendly...
...but one wrong move and they'll rip your eyes out.

Race more, drive less

I like racing. I hate driving forever to get to races. My 2007 racing season (15 races on my calendar) will all be within a three hour radius of Roanoke , VA.

Sweet.

The first racing of this new year will happen in April when Series 5 kicks off at Mountain Lake on April 1st. Be sure to bookmark the Series 5 web site for more info about the rest of the series!

Rock on, fellow racers and haters of long drives.

Spring into January

"What's up with this weather?", I asked Pookie as we rolled out for some normally-frigid January base miles. A steady rain the prior evening had dampened the roads enough to make me want to leave the road bike at home. Although a bit soggy, the temperature was just about perfect - for April. I'm not sure if I like it to be this warm in January. When the cold weather finally comes, it hits you harder when you're not used to it. When you're out there in the freezing cold putting on base miles, it makes you feel like you're getting tougher just by surviving the cold.
So we rolled out on the mountian bikes. We'd hit most pavement for this urban assault, but also mixed in some alleys, dirt roads and a tiny smidgen of trail. I was very happy to see lots of unfamiliar faces out on bikes. I expect to see certain people - other racers, hardcore roadies - but seeing newbies is always nice. I like the fact that the cycling community here in Roanoke is healthy and growing.
About an hour and a half into our ride, we met up with our friend Doug. He was going to go hang up his road bike after chasing in vain after a group ride that decided to drop him when he took a quick pit-stop. We convinced him to put up his skinnies in favor of his MTB for an enjoyable, low-key exploration of some new Greenway construction along the Roanoke River. We found some interesting gravel roads along the river that unfortunately led to nowhere. Our city has a lot of hidden corridors of grass, dirt and gravel along our river and railroad tracks that it's hard to remember them all. Most don't go anywhere, some do - but they lead you to places that you'd rather not go. Regardless, the urban assault possibilities are vast.

An hour and forty minutes later we almost had our goal of three hours of solid riding. Murphy decided to enforce his law and Doug got a flat breaking up the ride a bit. If there is such a thing as the perfect place for a flat tire, Doug found it; right along the flattest part of the Greenway and on a beautiful day.
Then we found the 2007 Team El Toreo mascot...